Following the success of their first album in five years, America, Location 12, Dispatch—along with producer John Dragonetti and engineer Mike Sawitzke—went back to the studio to wrap up some recording they didn’t finish the first time around.

The result is Location 13, a collection of material the band has been steadily releasing, one song at a time, every few weeks throughout the summer and will culminate as an album after the last song is released.

The new album finds the band continuing to push boundaries and break new ground. With honest, emotional storytelling and an eclectic sound that infuses the best elements of rock, Americana and folk, Dispatch are entering a new era with the passion and vigor of a band in its infancy and the experience of one that’s been together for more than twenty years.

Guitar World recently sat down with Chad Stokes, the band’s guitarist, to talk about Location 13, gear and more in this new interview.

How does the music on Location 13 compare to some of the band’s previous work?

This album came on the heels of America, Location 12. I see them both as siblings to each other, but this one is a bit darker and a little heavier. The songs we’ve written over these last two years feel more cohesive compared to our recording and writing processes of years gone by.

What was the writing process like?

For me, it usually starts with just messing around with a melody line on a guitar. If it sticks with you as the days go by, then you start fleshing it out. As you start working on it more you begin to see if the song is showing up. Sometimes, you feel like you may be walking through mud, but if you keep walking you get that little extra thing that tells you the song is worth finishing and sharing with the guys.

Let’s discuss a few tracks from Location 13, beginning with “Letter To Lady J.”

That song started right around the time when Eric Garner was killed by police in New York. It was preceded by Trayvon Martin and followed by Michael Brown and Tamir Rice. I’m not anti-police at all and have great friends in the field, but there is a racial problem we have in this country with authority, profiling, fear and accountability. The chorus is vague enough to be about justice, but for me the genesis of the song came from police brutality and the overuse of violence and lack of accountability.